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I wouldn't recommend it but if you insist i'd just go for the show

I've been to Paris four times, my friend has been three, yet there was still so many things we hadn't done. We decided another trip was in order so we booked a long weekend at the being of July and Moulin Rouge was on our itinerary from quite early on due to the raving reviews it had always received from people we know.

~Options~After quite a bit of research I found viator to be the cheapest place to book tickets from. The options are:9pm Show and Champagne - From £8211pm Show and Champagne - From £827pm Dinner & Show: Toulouse - From £1377pm Dinner & Show: Belle - From £156We paid £156 each for the show and dinning from the Belle menu.

~Arriving~Be prepared to queue when you arrive at the venue, we were quite lucky in that there was not many people there when we arrived but lines got pretty long after that. Also, if possible hide your coat and camera if you have them. Any coats that are seen will be taken off you and you'll be charged three euros for the privilege. They also charged for our umbrellas. When I attempted to argue with them I was told that no coats are allowed to hang on the back of chairs (Which is not true, there were coats and jackets on chairs all over the place. They also ask you if you have a camera and if you say yes they make you hand it over. Luckily I'd read this in a review beforehand and left mine at home (It cost £600, there's no way I'm leaving it in a cloak room).

The venue itself it grand and elegant but is completely ruined by the number of tables and chairs squeezed in making the place cramp and very stuffy once the place starts filling up. The walk ways between tables are for narrow and takes a great deal of balance and people moving in order to get to the toilets.

As there were only two of us we were sat with an Australian couple (Who were really nice and funny) at a table of four. They were in front of us in the line (And we'd already had a humorous conversation over coatgate so it gave us something to bond over) and therefore seating is allocated on a first come basis. We were pretty close to the front on a raised area next to a main walkway and so had very good seats for the show. I'm not sure that the people sat at the back could say the same.

~Dining~When eating at the Moulin Rouge you have to arrive at seven for a nine o'clock show. Two hours you say, that seems like a reasonable amount of time to eat. As we choose the belle option we were given a menu containing the following options:

You are also served a mise en bouche in a shot glass at the start of the meal but none of us could actually tell what was in it.

I haven't covered the other dining options here but they are available from the Moulin Rouge website and vegetarian and vegan options are also available as well as a reduced price option for children.

I choose the lobster, steak and the Opera pastry.

Pretty much immediately after sitting down both my friend and I and the couple we were sat with were given the menus and were asked to choose our options very quickly. Then the other couple were given their drinks (A half bottle of Champaign which they will leave unopened if you ask and a glass of wine as an alternative to Champaign) which we had to wait a while for ours. We were then served the mise en bouche, started and main course in the space of twenty minutes, they really don't want you to linger and appreciate their food. I'm a pretty slow eater which cause the waiters (Who literal keep running around) no end of grieve but buy my table a little extra time with the main course. So much so that we had to wait for ages for the desert.

The main course and desert were really good(I'm not a fan of very chilled lobster and therefore didn't eat much starter) . I can't say it was the best meal I've ever had but it was certainly enjoyable and I didn't hear any complaints. The presentation of the deserts is very pretty.

The meal does come with a half bottle of campagn but once you've drank this you're on your own and drinks are very expensive. We did ask for water at the beginning of the meal and were provided with a jug. When we asked again later it came in a bottle (a sure sign that they are going to charge you for it). Our feisty Australian was not taking this, she argued, they argued back but in the end we were not charged for any water even though we drank the bottle too.

During dinner we were provided with a band that had a male and female vocalist as entertainment. They were ok but nothing to write home about, they do a good job as background music.

~The show itself~The show lasts for two hours with a 30 minute interval in the middle. Once the dinner part is complete the chandeliers in the ceiling move and you realise that the little stage you watched the band on is actually a lot bigger than it first appeared. You remain in the same seats where you ate for the show.

The show has a number of different sequences that follow different 'stories'. I struggle to say that the themes chosen were any good as every time it seems like the showing is going somewhere they add semi naked women to the mix for no reason what so ever other than to show breast. Semi naked slaves, yeah sure you can get away with that, semi naked clowns? Now you're just taking the... Now, I do realise that if you visit Moulin Rouge you're going to see some semi nudity. I'm not a prude, I think I'm pretty open minded, but there comes a point where something is not art, it is just soft porn. The clowns were the final straw for me. I actually think if they'd held back and used it for more effectively it would have much more impact. When it's everywhere it becomes normal and dull and boring. Oh, another breast, how exciting.

I also think that Moulin Rouge needs to open itself up to a more equal opportunities policy. The men in the show, in comparison to the women, couldn't get enough clothes on. There were very very few instances of topless men which seems a bit unfair to me. Is it because men are held in far higher esteem than women. It's ok for women to be cheap and walk around topless but men are too good for this? I just think a little equality is needed and the semi naked men might distract me from the terrible experience.

There were three highlights of the show for me. Firstly, the traditional Paris cancan sequences. When they do this they do it right. The music, lights, costumes, cancans and dancing is spectacular and is really what you imagine the Moulin Rouge to be, bringing alive the images that you hold from the old posters. Yes, there is some nudity, but it fits with the sequence and is not naked for nakeds sake. I could have watched this for hours but sadly it is only like 1/6 of the actual show, if that. My other two highlights were actually the support acts used for scene changes. The comedian/juggler is incredibly funny and the two man acrobatic routine is amazing (There's a section carried out to singing in the rain which was amazing).

I am a bit iffy about the use of animals. During the show a number of snakes and miniature ponies are used (Not at the same time). A number of times I saw animals being dragged around. I've googled a lot since my visit and can't find anything that states that the animals are looked after. Had I known animals were used before hand and could not find any information about their treatment I would not have gone to see the show.

~After the show~You're shown the door as quickly as possible at the same time that the people for the eleven o'clock show are shown in (Faster turnover than the staff at McDonalds) which makes for a nice cramp situation. If you do have any half drank drinks stand your ground and finish and hang on to any unopened bottles of Champaign otherwise you'll lose them pretty quickly.

~It's all about the money, money, money~We walk away from Moulin Rouge feeling that everything has a purpose, and that purpose is to make as much money as possible. Everything has an added charge except the toilets (I'm surprised they don't try to charge for them). The table next to us bought roses for the women, had extra Champaign, had photos taken and it must have cost them a small fortune. The speed of the staff has nothing to do with being attentive, it's to get you through the system as soon as possible, so they clean tables and remove table clothes whilst your sat there not to improve your own enjoyment but to make sure they can get the next lot in faster. Customer service is zero. Some staff are nice and have a sense of humour but for the most part they are pretty rude which is probably because they have to go at such fast speeds and have a large number of tables to look after. At one point towards the end of the show a waiter running around dropped a bottle of water which bounced of my foot and smashed on the floor. It hurt but there was no word of apology and the glass remained in the small walk way for ages with lots of people walking over it. That would be unacceptable in most places.

~Conclusion~I think I was expecting art and for the most part what I got was cheap smut. It could be because I'm a woman and this is aimed for towards men although even the loud leering men who cheered for every semi naked woman in the first ten minutes seemed bored of the whole thing by the second half. A case of too much of a good thing maybe? If you really feel the need to go so you can cross it off your list I would book just the tickets, yes the food is nice but it's the most I've ever paid for a meal and the worse dinning experience I have ever had.

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Save your money!

I have just returned from Paris, during which we spent a night at the Moulin Rouge. What a huge disappointment!

Let me start by saying that I have heard very positive reviews about the show at the Moulin Rouge from family and friends - so I'm not sure whether we just went on a bad night or what, but the show was a shambles!

We decided not to eat at the venue but to eat at one of the many restaurants outside, so I cannot comment on the quality of the food. When we arrived, we were shown in quickly and efficiently to our table which happened to be right at the very back of the auditorium and was incredibly cramped. Our chairs faced outwards (not towards the stage) and there wasn't enough room to turn our chairs to face the stage once the show started. However, we did have an "okay" view, even if it could have been a lot better!

Once seated at our table, the waiter quickly bought us our complimentary bottle of champagne. Had we wanted to get to the bar to order more it would really have been impossible since it would have required about 12 people to move just so that we would have had enough room to get out!

The show started - and with great anticipation we settled down to watch the spectacle which we'd been told so much about. Immediately it became very apparent that the dancing and acts were not of the standard I would have come to expect for a show which we paid 102 euros each to see. I spend a lot of time going to shows in London's West End, and I can tell you that the Moulin Rouge does not even come close to emulating the standard that is reproduced night after night in London.

The dances were very samey. They lacked originality, vibrance, precision or sensuality. I did expect there to be a degree of sensuality bearing in mind the history of the Moulin Rouge but, in my opinion, having dancers that simply bared flesh is just not enough! The dancing was lackluster and I can't see how it would have moved anyone to feel anything other than bored and fobbed off. There was some mild amusement from some acrobats who were at least talented, but even here their act was nothing that I haven't seen a hundred times before on various variety shows. I couldn't wait for the show to end and from the response from the audience, I was not the only one!

Save your money. There is so much to do in Paris that this really doesn't need to be on your list.

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Enjoyable Paris attraction for all.

As a surprise for my Mum and my sisters and I, my Dad booked tickets for us all to go to see the Moulin Rouge as part of our weekend away to celebrate Mum and Dad's silver wedding anniversary. We had dinner in the hotel which was 'average' (see review). From our hotel we got a taxi which was 30euros for a 5 seater. We were booked into the 11pm showing and were advised to arrive by 10.30pm. We had to queue outside but it was a warm evening so this was not a problem, and the queue soon moved inside. Once inside we bought a programme for 8euros, which is about average for a show, even though it is quite expensive.

Non of us had any expectations of the evening as quite embarrassingly we didn't really know what the Moulin Rouge was all about, Dad simply booked it as it was one of the things you are 'supposed' to do in Paris and thought that having 4 daughters it would be perfect.He had pre-cooked the tickets online and paid 90euros per person which included 1/2 a bottle of champagne. (it was around 150 each with dinner and to book without the champagne you had to call up, which is quite sneaky but it was worth it when we got there).

When we got to the front of the line we were asked if we had any cameras with us, I had a camera in my small bag but lied and said I didn't (not that I was going ot take pictures but I didn't want to leave my camera in the cloakroom) We were shown to our seats by a very friendly man, who then offered to bring our champagne over. Dad explained that we had paid for 6 tickets but there was only 6 of us as one of my sisters couldn't fly in due to all the recent disruptions. The man was very helpful and said we could take one of the 1/2 bottles sealed so that she could have it anyway. The table we were at was on the first raised level which gave us a good view of the stage.

When the show started we were amazed by the extreme costumes which the dancers wore, they looked great as they moved across the stage. The main show was spilt with intervals of acts including acrobatics, juggling and a ventriloquist.

The acrobatic couple were a man and woman who did lots of lifts and amazing acrobatics, moving into positions which looked almost impossible. They were both extremely strong and performed a balancing act consisting of balancing and stretching on their heads and hands, it really was amazing. The juggler tossed the batons at high speeds and his act was breathtaking, juggling with up to 8 batons at a time! The ventriloquist and his dog were hilarious and he also did a performance with some members of the audience.

The whole show was amazingly and very well produced, with the main dancers having an immense amount of costume changes, all of which were beautiful and extravagant. The overall feel of the show was well produced cabaret which usually isn't my kind of thing yet I thoroughly enjoyed it! Even though some of the outfits were quite tacky, it fitted in with the overall feel of the show, in the same way that the topless women fitted in artistically, it was not cheap looking and was all very entertaining. The singing all the way through is 99% in French but this did not spoil my enjoyment of the show, it sort of made it all that more exciting! There was one dance where a lady dances underwater with snakes, this was scary to watch yet still amazing! There were also miniature ponies used in one scene which captured the hearts of the audience with plenty of "ahhhh's" but it was a bit cruel, as at least 2 of the ponies really didn't want to be there!

It was sad that my sister couldn't join us but my Mum, 2 sisters and I had a thoroughly enjoyable evening and even my Dad loved it - probably down to the over indulgence on champagne mixed with an hour and forty five minutes of topless dancers! (we ended up drinking 2 bottles and taking the 2 1/2 bottles home, but my sisters only had a small glass each!)

Throughout the show there were waiters serving bar drinks to other tables, I am glad we had champagne so as not to be disturbed and have to fumble around for money in the dark.

Although it is very expensive for tickets (especially when you don't even use them all) it was well worth it and that is something my Dad agreed on (please note this is very rare coming from my Dad who has to cater for 4 daughters!) If you get the chance to go then I believe you will have the time of your life!

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A must see show whilst in Paris

On my recent trip to Paris I was lucky enough to have included in the itinerary a trip to see the famous Moulin Rouge show. I was so excited to be going to see this show for plenty of reasons and so come the end of the second evening I was quite literally bouncing off the walls in excitement! This is my opinion on one of the best shows I have seen in a long time.

The show:The moulin Rouge has been around for years since 1889 when it first made an appearance. The show is a mix of dance, song, comedy, music and acrobatics. Guests can choose to enjoy the show by having a meal beforehand in the theatre or they can just choose to turn up for the show. My experience is based on the dinner and show and so I will share my views on this side of things.

Location:The show is based in the Montmatre area of Paris on Boulevard De Clichy and is located just across from Blanche metro stop. There are plenty of bars and restaurants around the theatre and the nightlife is particularly buzzing with crowds gathering to take photos of this famous theatre.

Show options:As I mentioned there are a couple of options for guests to take when booking the moulin rouge. Every show package comes with a half bottle of Champagne per guest. When booking you are giving the option of booking just the show and champagne or dinner and show. If booking the dinner and show you will then also have three options for dinner depending of the menu you choose. As it stands at the moment the current menu as taken from their website is as follows:

So if guests book a meal they will arrive at the theatre and be served the meal before the main show whilst enjoying the warm up cabaret act on stage - normally you will be asked to arrive for 7pm onwards. Guests who book just the champagne and show will be asked to arrive around 8pm. The main show is then on at 9pm. For guests who are just booking the champagne and show option it comes at the following prices:

9pm show - 99 Euros per person11pm show - 89 Euros per person

Entering the theatre:When you arrive at the theatre you will need to join the queue to get in which, depending on what time you arrive can be quite long! The reason it takes quite some time is due to the fact that most guests will want to put their coats in the cloakroom and this slows down the queue moving through the door. Plus if any guests have any cameras that they have brought with them they will ask you to also hand them in to reclaim at the end of the show. They have a strict no photography rule in the theatre and and so they try to avoid anyone taking them through into the theatre in the first place. I have to admit though that I did sneak mine in to the theatre due to how small my bag was I don't think they realised it was in there but, it wasn't to take pictures but, simply because I did not feel safe leaving my camera behind a counter! So please remember this when going to the show as if you do not need to have your camera with with you and you cannot take it in with you into the theatre, it might be worth leaving at the hotel.When you eventually get through to the theater, you will be led to your table where you will meet with your personal waiter for the evening. The theater apparently seats up to 850 diners but it doesn't even somehow seem that big! I particularly like the way the tables were laid out with a little red fancy lamp in the middle that gave it that old traditional type look and it suited the type of show we were there to watch somehow - even the decoration around the rest of the room was grand and over the top but, in a good way.

The meal:We had the Toulouse Lautrec menu which we actually had set for us from the choice on that menu as work booked it all for us. I was a little dissappointed by this but, I suppose I cannot really complain when it was free! For starters we had the smoked salmon which looked very fancy but as I don't eat salmon I didn't particulary find it very appealing - for the fish eaters in the group they were in their element and said it was lovely. It came served as 4 slices, a lemon half and a slice of toast. We were served the veal for the main which I was very relieved about and although nice and cooked the way I like (rare) it was not a very large piece and so I still felt a litle hungry afterwards! Dessert was banana pana-cotta which again I am not fan of bananas so I didn't eat this and afterwards still felt hungry due to the amount of food I'd had! However if the items available on the menu were your thing you'd probably find it was very adequate. During the meal the waiters are very attentive filling up glasses and making sure you are happy with your meal. The courses at brought out to the table once evrybody has finished each course and there is just the right time between each before they bring each next course. Overall the meal is very nice and of a good service.

The show itself: The show begins promtly at 9pm and as the music starts the stage is filled with the dancers. The outfits are glitzy and tacky all in one with shiny suits an sequins everywhere! The show follows a story but, to be honest I wasn't quite sure of exactly what it was following however this doesn't detract from anything and you can still ejoy the show without truly understanding the story. There are a variety of scenes which include a multitude of costumes - some so extravagent and fancy and some so corny and cheesy it's untrue! There is plenty of singing and yes of course it is in French but, it doesn't matter at all as the excitement is there and the music is fun and enjoyable. In between certain set changes they have an act on to keep the audience going of which there is three all together. I have to say these were some of the best acts I have seen in a long time - funny, entertaining and amazing would be a way of describing them. Of course the show is famed also for it's Doris girls - a troup of topless women who are all part of the act. Initially my first thoughts were how do they not feel embarrassed parading around in front of so many people but, the reality is they are doing this every evening and have been doing for a long time and plus - and I honestly never thought I'd say this about topless women - but, it really is done in a way that is artistic and to suit the type of show it is. The women are very slim and all of them are very attractive too which is probably very intentional! I can really describe the show in any other way except to say that it is mix of so much colour, variety and even animals and that there is simply no way you can't enjoy it! Of and of course, lets not forget the famous french can can which is of course is in the show!

Overall opinion:The show is definitely worth the hefty price tag - however what you should remember is what you're getting for your money. A great two hour long show, champagne and a 3 course meal in a brilliant atmosphere. The performers are all brilliant and very talented and I was not disappointed at all by the performance. The only negative I had with the whole thing is that the cabaret act can get quite tedious if you are there for as long as we were before the mian show actually starts. We felt like we'd been waiting forever before we got to see what we really came for and that took some of the enjoyment away - plus for me I was not willing to spend any money and so because of how long I was sat there in the hall waiting for it to fully start I really had to drag out my half bottle of champagne. I can't really complain about that though as it was really nice tasting and so much better than anythign else I've had before elsewhere! Before I went I had a slight idea in my head what the show would be like but, it was so much better than I had expected to be and so for that reason I would highly recommend this show as a must see whilst in Paris.

Only go there if you are a fanatic of dance and pomp.

Our Christmas outing this year was to gay Paris, with a bus load of firemen from Dorset Fire and Rescue . Courtesy of my wifes work. You know the ones, a 13 hour coach trip when we could have paid half and flew there in an hour? But it was fun and I never would have got to discuss the merits of keeping a small lizard in an ashtray if I had not travelled by wheels.

Included in our 3 night stay was a visit to the Moulin Rouge (roughly translated Mouldy Red.) including dinner for the princely sum of £98 per person or should I say poison? Anyway, let me tell you the boring bits first (unless I already have.)

On October 5, 1889, the Moulin Rouge opened as the "Rendez-vous du high life" which roughly translated means meeting place for tall people. (Please note; my translations may not be very accurate.) It was a famed music hall for the wanna be Goths, ant establishmentarians, rebels and perverts really! Well, if you wanted to see a girl flash her knickers at you then look no further. Toulouse Lautrec, (Roughly translated; to lose ones track of direction) the famous dwarf-like artist used to hang out here literally. He painted those famous turn of the century posters that depicted the sexual presence of the French folly in her fur coat and no knickers pose. Well he had his own high chair and was welcomed as he spent a fair few bob on the girls, if you know what I mean.

Situated in the Montmartre district of Paris, (roughly translated; Mounting a Martyr) an area noted for its red light district, sleazy peep shows and now DVD/Porn shops, this area is a place of two evils in a way. At the bottom of the hill or mount you have the sleaze and at the top, up hundreds of blardy stairs, you have the Sacre Coeur, (Roughly translated: sack of coal) a symbolic monument of how money can have anything built in the name of religion. This church or shrine to JC can be seen from all over Paris with its white domes and massive view point. In fact, if you stand at the observatory south of Luxembourg Palace, some 2 miles due south of the Seine, you can see her glistening when the sun shines on her, as we were fortunate enough to witness ourselves.

Anyway, if you can imagine the Rendezvous in Soho, then you have the Moulin Rouge in Paris.

Famous for its big windmill outside the building and her crude neon lights, but more famous for her cancan dancers with their high kicking spectacle of flamboyant feathered frolics. We arrived at 6.30 to be made to wait outside in the freezing cold for 20 minutes, just to improve Anglo-French relations. This played havoc with the ladies in their elegant frocks of fine, flimsy material. However, once inside it warmed up, by about 3 degrees and I do not mean they were the cabaret.

Sat at our paste tables on seats more familiar in primary school classrooms, we were served the free champagne which was included in the price of the meal (half a bottle per person) it was, to be fair, very nice and not too cheap tasting. Our starter came, a lovely potato and a hint of leek soup! A bread stick was offered in the guise of a bread roll but I was not fooled. After the somewhat disappointment of this powdered offering, a plate came with veal upon it, small breaded and similar to that you would expect on a table in Benidorm rather than a country famous for her cuisine. Our meal ended with a piece of cake filled with cold custard, mmm, I can tell you are all jealous.

The meal was nothing short of a disgrace and something I would have sent back even at a cheap Christmas dinner, but considering the company we were with and the environment of the Moulin Rouge, I think it would have done far worse to complain than to just let it lie. To make matters worse, there was a leaflet on the table stating the minimum drinks order per person was 95 Euros, or an incredible £65 each! So that half bottle of champagne was made to stretch for the 4 hours we were in there. They really rubbed it in when the cabaret act they put on stage to entertain us during the meal were obviously Eurovision rejects and we had the gendarme (roughly translated; gender of your arm.) notified who charged them of 14 different accounts of murdering songs! Aye carumba, I hear you say, why did you not just leave? Well, two reasons, one was the £95 we paid to get in and the second was the show had not started.

The show

At last, we sighed a sigh of relief as the curtains gave way to a ménage of colour and sparkle and the show began. Straight away, the topless girls started the show with song and dance and big cheesy grins. The music was loud but not too loud so that you could not hear each other talk. The dancing was pretty good to be honest and after the novelty of the girls being topless wore off you did not really notice their predicament. In fact, it did lead to the question as to why they had to be topless to start with? The choreography was good and their timing was pretty impressive so we started to relax a bit in our small chairs.

Next, two male acrobats performed an act of sheer strength and balance and it kept the women glued to the stage for a while and us men calling them gay or impotent. Seriously though, they had amazing strength and their performance was pretty impressive. Other shows between the acts were a talking mime artist, (yeah, really!) and a unicycle balancing man who juggled and stuff.

More dancing and more costume changes followed and one fantastic performance when one of the dancers leapt into a tank of snakes, some as long as 10ft I would say and swam amongst them, wrapping them around her neck and body and generally scaring the hell out of Ophidiophobes. But after a while the dancing became a bit of the same old same old and when they eventually did the cancan, if was more to wake the audience up than to showpiece their famous trademark. After that, it became more a glance at the watch time than a watch them dance time and when the final curtain came down I was the first person at the cloakroom and first to leave the building.

The music score was that of a typical dance hall, loud and promiscuous, bold and brassy. Although the headphones they sang through (or mimed, you decide.) killed any music hall days reminiscing, you still enjoyed the show as a whole. What did surprise me though is that having seen the movie Moulin Rouge, none of the songs from that were actually in the actual show. Okay, I did not think there would be a giant elephant and a love song medley but I thought lady marmalade may have spread herself within the show.

Was I disappointed, you bethca bottom dollar I was, but mainly with the meal and the ambience if I am honest, had I have paid the 97 Euros for the show (about £65) and got in at 9 instead of 7, I would not have been as bored waiting around and would have probably had a nice plate of Moules Mariner (roughly translated; Mouldy seaman.) inside my belly. So I think the show was okay but not worth anymore than say £30/50 Euros but the meal is not worthy of an Iceland 3 for £5 special.

If you go to Paris and you really love dancing and shows, then go, just to say you have but I feel that you will only be kidding yourself if you think it is either value for money or a unique show.

It was not the near £100 we paid (each) that disappointed me, I would gladly pay twice that for a good evenings entertainment, it was the pre-conceived notion and romance I thought the Moulin Rouge would provide us with that let me down.

I would have preferred to sit in a Latin Quarter café and listen to a sax player jamming or even the purr of the nights pulsating mood than be crammed like battery hens in a place living on its reputation.